


The end of a story unwritten.

by mudokun



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, but somewhat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-08 22:42:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1138295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mudokun/pseuds/mudokun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mycroft takes preventative measures against a broken heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The end of a story unwritten.

A single glance is all that Mycroft needs to deduce that John would never love him.

This glance occurs at one point during their second meeting alone together. During the case of the Bruce-Partington plans, where John takes it upon himself to visit Mycroft's office to interview him about the details.

His suit is rather cheap in Mycroft's opinion, though perhaps in John's case it was one of the better ones he owned. The Doctor seems to be very obviously nervous as he stands, and Mycroft walks by him without even considering to shake the man's hand.

John stutters, and then Mycroft takes the glance.

No.

John's rapidly blinking eyes and expectant expression is not a sign of attraction or any of the other silly human emotions. Mycroft internally disparages himself for looking for the signs- he made no dealings with such ordinary people like John, especially dealings of the romantic kind.

Mycroft hands John a file and they begin to banter. Mycroft cannot help but allow his true colours to shine a bit- if only pausing to rub at his sore jaw.

John's dawdling is absolutely precious. His lies are completely visible to Mycroft's eyes, and they would be even to a man with not even a tenth of the foresight. But Mycroft accomodates him nonetheless. He even gets a few smiles. The man is completely nervous, and somehow, Mycroft finds himself not only liking that but adoring it.

\--

An exchance of phone numbers couldn't possibly have less implications than the one that Mycroft shared with John after a discussion about Sherlock's former addiction. Mycroft already has John's number, of course, so all that is needed is for Mycroft to take John's phone and enter his number. He scans the phone in silence but it only tells him of things that he had already deduced by other signs he'd noticed from watching John.

John's noticeably blue eyes glance over Mycroft when he begins to think that the elder Holmes is taking a bit longer with the phone than he really needed. With a quick apology Mycroft hands it back to him, and in the haste their fingers brush against each other in a touch, that jolts Mycroft's heart in ways unexpected. He excuses himself almost immediately and leaves the flat under the pretense that Sherlock would be returning soon, if only to hide his slightly red cheeks.

\--

After a particularly sensitive case involving a high-profile blackmail artist, Mycroft meets with John at the diner underneath his flat. It is almost like a date; they order tea and coffee respectively, and Mycroft makes it a point to mention that he rarely frequents cafes, wondering if John would gleam a little more off that statement than an average fool could. The conversation turns out to be rather raw in Mycroft's standards, and he even finds himself asking John for the next course of action. John listens to his worries with a calm and opening demeanor, and somehow this only furthers Mycroft's unusually open manner of speaking. When John leaves him at the table to explain things to Sherlock, Mycroft is suddenly very aware that his heart may be compromised and immediately resolves to prevent this in the future.

\--

He begins to retaliate against the portion of his mind that dedicates itself to emotion. Instead of polite conversation and a play of wits, Mycroft begins to act colder towards John, subtly demonstrating to him that he only tolerated his relationship with Sherlock and nothing more. John only returns the favor. John's light-hearted insults are no longer met with Mycroft's good humour, only silent loathing. It amuses the Doctor when he invokes a sour expression from Mycroft, so at least, Mycroft figured, John was enjoying himself.

\--

But it is when Sherlock's fate is decided that the relationship between John and Mycroft truly breaks apart.

Mycroft devises a plan to help Sherlock escape from his battle with Moriarty but the plan is not without compromise. The sole concern being one John Watson. As cruel as it sounds, even for Mycroft, the lack of his involvement wasn't overly necessary and, in the end, it was a petty act of revenge for a non-existant slight.

But Mycroft is not prepared for when John enters his private room in the Diogenes without his knowledge, brandishing a newspaper as a weapon of rage. Mycroft immediately puts on an act to fool John with, but the mask melds quite quickly and the guilt shown in Mycroft's face is no longer a lie. He cannot even bear to look him in the eye for a few moments, very much aware of the scenario's requirement for their relationship to break, if Sherlock is to die without being found out before his name is cleared.

\--

Mycroft knows that John hates to linger in the past. And Mycroft is now the past, more or less, and not even a nice part of it. So he doesn't bother with trying to keep contact- even as the man begins to fall into a dredge of depression. But he meets a nurse, eventually, and she is not all that she seems. But Mycroft no longer has the heart to hurt John any longer, and so he merely keeps out, only keeping an eye on him, just in case this 'Mary Morstan' turns out to be a rouge. 

Sherlock returns from the mission, and John is discussed. Mycroft makes a bitter joke about fish and chips, and it is very well hidden from Sherlock that it was more of a desire than mere sarcasm.

 --

Mycroft is less involved with them at this point. Morstan engulfs John's life and leaves very little for his involvement, especially now that John was no longer staying at 221B. Mycroft sometimes considers telling the man the truth about his wife, but he seems decently happy and it's rather obvious by now, for his 46 years of life that Mycroft does not bring joy to people's lives. Which is precisely why he does not show up at the wedding do. He is the utter opposite of a people person, even in comparison to Sherlock, who seems to be integrating himself into the goldfish bowl quite swimmingly indeed. His hesitance towards telling John about Mary is even further shot down by the revelation of a child; John's child, and Mycroft could never see himself taking that away from him. So he stayed quiet.

\--

Sherlock returns to the needle unexpectedly soon after his relationship with John begins to dissolve in the throes of domestic life. Such a shame, then, when John's name shows up on his phone screen after nearly two years that the topic of conversation once again revolves around Sherlock. But has it ever been any different? Mycroft shows up instantly on the doorstep before John and Sherlock return to 221B and he has also employed the services of a mentally-disturbed yet trustworthy man who with his wife, agreed to the idea of searching in Sherlock's flat for illicit substances. Apparently, it isn't even the first time for Phillip.

Things suddenly turn nasty upstairs when Sherlock pins him to the wall with his arm shoved behind his back, and Mycroft knows he's gone too far. Immediately John speaks up- the negotiator, the soldier trying to prevent violence, and he urges Mycroft to stay silent, expressing his concern that Sherlock might just hurt him. 

Sherlock lets go at last and Mycroft appears to be very, very ruffled. John continues his unhelpful advice and tells Mycroft to leave without a single word. A second passes and John realizes that in the commotion, Mycroft has dropped his umbrella. He bends over to pick it up and hands it back sheepishly, Mycroft staring back at him in contempt. He snatches it away, but he does what John says.

\--

Christmas. More like familial torture, in Mycroft's opinion. The Holmes family home is always a delight, especially with John and Mary here, and not to mention the drug addict Sherlock also invited to tag along. Everything always seems to be about Sherlock now, he thinks maliciously, and he can't even force himself to think of what it would be like when the actual lunch began! Ugly, boring things like conversation and the topic of Mary's pregnancy, which Mycroft really cannot find himself caring about. He complains like a dramatic child, whining about how long the day has been taking and spent most of the time wishing he was home doing work.

Once he glances over to John, who, at quite the opportune moment, is glancing back at him. Their eye contact lasts far longer than necessary, and it is Mycroft who looks away first. 

"Shame about the weather, eh?" he starts, not even knowing why he bothered to bring up a conversation.

"What are you talking about? It's perfect." John replies, frowning back at him. They hadn't spoken since the last incident.

"Exactly." Mycroft replies, his eyes fixed on the hearth.

John sighs and leaves the room. 

Mycroft turns to watch the doorway that John had walked through. Sherlock's words ring through his ears and suddenly he realizes how much his brother can see. He'd known all along, he realizes, and has a slight moment of internal panic. 

'Can't handle a broken heart?' he had sneered, and Mycroft had rolled his eyes at the insult. His heart had never broken.

But Sherlock had meant something else. He had drawn light to Mycroft's preventative measures, that had so often led him into being alone.

His heart was not broken, of course, but it had taken a great deal to stop that from happening.

All those little blocks of kindness. The rude mannerisms, all to stop John Watson from breaking in and destroying what lived inside his heart. It was pointless, all this, because maybe he could have handled it after all

But then he remembers his motto; Don't get involved. So he remained there, alone, with the comfort of only his cold, unshatterable heart. And it would always remain that way.

**Author's Note:**

> To the end of an era.
> 
> Johncroft was once my ultimate OTP. But after the events of S3 I just can't find myself shipping it anymore. So this is my ode to what could have been.


End file.
